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Prior to purchasing (or selling) any particular piece of fee simple property in British Columbia, most Realtors will obtain a copy of a Land Title Search Some of the information includes: Name of the Registered Owner - is this the person that you (or your Realtor) is negotiating with Legal Notations - contains im...

When buying a house, you must decide whose name will go on title Will you be the sole owner Should you be on title at all Will you and your spouse go on title together If so, will you be joint tenants or tenants in common What about your children What is the difference between Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common ...

Sometimes after a series of unfortunate events the Buyer, or more likely the Seller of a parcel land dies after signing a binding contract for the purchase, but prior to completion (and signing the transfer) At common law, where a contract was for “personal services”, the death of the party providing those service...

This weeks blog post is definitely not legal advice, however growing up in the Real Estate industry for the past 34 years, there are definitely a few ways I have discovered that both Realtors and Lawyers can add value to their clients transaction: Negotiate from a position of strength – in short, ensure that your ...

As a professional, dealing with clients who are undergoing a divorce is always very difficult As Agents where we know a client is undergoing a divorce it is important to get clear and unequivocal instructions from "your client" Realtors and Lawyers owe a duty of care to their clients, this includes, in the context o...

A landlord has five basic options when a commercial lease goes into default: affirm the lease and sue for amounts due; affirm the lease and distrain the tenant’s goods on the premises for rent in arrears; terminate the lease and re-enter the premises affirm the lease and relet the premises on the tenant’s ...

In BC, Sellers have a choice with Property Disclosure Statements ("PDS"), they could either: simply cross them out and do not complete the questionaire and mark "as-is"; thus the principal of "buyer beware" would apply (Smith, 2005 BCSC 635); or they would have to fill out the PDS "to the best of their knowledge"...

First time home buyers get an exemptions from paying the property transfer tax and this "tax break" can save FTHB thousands of dollars However, First Time Home Buyers need to carefully ensure that they qualify for this tax savings Persons claiming a FTHB credit are regularly audited by the PTT Office The Criteria to...

In the last few years, there had been a landslide of litigation over pre-sale contract under the Real Estate Development and Marketing Act In a recently released Supreme Court of Canada case (Sharbern Holding Inc v Vancouver Airport Centre Ltd, 2011 SCC 23) , the Supreme Court critically defines what information is "ma...

Who Owns the WaterAll water in BC is owned by the Crown and strictly regulated As property lines extend to, but do not include the foreshore, the upland owner has no rights to use or “possess” the water, only a right to access A license from the Provincial Crown is require to use/ possess Waterfront Boundaries C...

A DEPOSIT is usually made from the BUYER in the BUYER’s AGENTS trust account and is held according to the stakeholder provisions of the Real Estate Services Act This means that the DEPOSIT can generally ONLY be released prior to completion where: it is paid into COURT or in accordance with a COURT ORDER; or ...

December is a wonderful month, the snow is falling and the ski hill is open It provides a great time to look back and reflect on 2010 and look ahead to 2011 Some of the highlights for me this year have been:1) Great Referrals from Great Realtors – in the past year I am proud to say that we have doubled our market sha...

In Kelowna, it is common place that real estate closings occur with another party signing on behalf of the Seller and executing documents by a power of attorney A power of attorney is a document whereby one person (the DONOR) confers authority on another person (the ATTORNEY) to take certain actions on their behalf ...

Recently I was asked to write an article for the Lawyers Weekly (a national newspaper in Canada directed to lawyers), this is a re-post of that article originally published by the Lawyer's Weekly October 8, 2010:When we speak to law reform, real estate is generally a tortoise among hares and for good reason Given that...

(based on real life events)At the end of August 2010, Dave and Jane were buying their first home Nervous about finding the “right” home for themselves and their two kids they look at property after property Finally, at the beginning of August 2010, the house at 3245 McLeod Road came up for $375,000 It was the right...